US Secret Service Official Warns of Unprecedented Threat Environment for Protectees

A senior U.S. Secret Service official said Wednesday that the "threat environment" for the agency's protectees, who include President Donald Trump, "is the highest we've ever seen."

"What we're seeing now is something I've never seen before," said the senior official, who spoke to reporters at a background briefing on the condition that they not be identified by name before a public briefing.

There have been about 10,000 cases involving threats to government officials, including Supreme Court justices, so far in 2026, the official said, according to a pool report of the briefing by MS NOW. That represents a 40% increase in such cases over the same period last year.

"They're increasing in volume and complexity," the official said, a week after Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett told a House subcommittee that the threat level to her and other federal judges "is really high."

The Secret Service has seen the number of mental health committals of people suspected of making threats to protectees spike by a factor of 10, according to the official.

The briefing came ahead of Friday's rescheduled annual dinner for the White House Correspondents' Association at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington. Trump is set to attend the event.

The WHCA's originally scheduled dinner was abruptly suspended in April when a man armed with multiple weapons tried to storm past a security checkpoint inside the Washington Hilton Hotel as Trump was attending the dinner.

The man, Cole Tomas Allen of California, was tackled by Secret Service officers before he could get into the ballroom where Trump and other top administration officials were. Allen has been charged with trying to assassinate Trump.

Matthew Quinn, the Secret Service's deputy director, when asked by a reporter at the public part of the briefing how concerned the agency is about the threat of drones being used to attack protectees, said, "Very."

"Look, the threat's real," Quinn said. "Look at Ukraine .... It's just a matter of time before it comes to the United States."

But Quinn also said that the White House is "very safe from attack."

"The technology that we're deploying, and not just at the White House, at all protected sites, is cutting edge right now," he said.

"The threat continues to get tougher and tougher, you know," Quinn said. "You're talking fiber-optic controlled drones now, dark drones. So it's a constant chase to keep up with it. But we're doing a tremendous job to stay ahead of the threat, especially at the White House."

On Tuesday, Trump was asked by a reporter at the White House if he feels safe, considering what have been several attempts on his life.

"I feel safe," the president replied. "Why wouldn't I feel safe?"

Trump narrowly escaped being killed at a campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, when gunman Thomas Crooks opened fire on Trump. An audience member, Corey Comperatore, was killed in the attack, and two other people were seriously injured.

Two months later, a Secret Service officer shot at another gunman who was hiding in shrubs on the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

That gunman, Ryan Routh, was convicted in Florida federal court last September of trying to assassinate Trump, and of other charges.

Routh is serving a life sentence in prison.